Rome - US President George W Bush may have had his watch stolen while greeting crowds in Albania, Italian media outlets reported on Tuesday, using images of the alleged incident taken by Albanian television network News24. Bush on Sunday visited Fushe Kruja, a small town some 30 kilometres from the capital Tirana, a day after paying an official visit to Italy.
Footage appearing on Italian newspapers and websites show Bush wearing his watch at the beginning of his visit. But within seconds of shaking hands with the crowds, the watch looks to have disappeared.
Daily Corriere della Sera said Bush had not reported the theft. Images of him boarding Air Force One ahead of leaving Tirana show him with a watch back on his left wrist.
There have been conflicting reports about electricity supply to Zimbabwe from the region, while massive cuts continue to affect businesses and daily life in the country. The state paper The Herald reported Tuesday that power to Zimbabwe from the Democratic Republic of Congo had been cut off because ZESA Holdings is failing to service a US$5 million debt with its DRC supplier. The report quotes an unnamed official at ZESA as saying:
The DRC power utility has suspended its power exports to Zimbabwe, leading to the burdening of the already weak local power supply. Despite the imports, we had a deficit and now it's worse because of the debt.
The DRC power utility has suspended its power exports to Zimbabwe, leading to the burdening of the already weak local power supply. Despite the imports, we had a deficit and now it's worse because of the debt.
But on Tuesday there was also a Reuters news agency report which said the DRC had denied The Herald report. Reuters quoted energy minister Salomon Banamuhere as saying: "There was a problem with the line over the weekend. A cable fell. But we worked on it Saturday and Sunday," The Congolese minister also said the problem had been fixed on Sunday and there is now electricity going through.
While these conflicting reports circulate, power cuts continue to slow down business around the country, making simple daily routines impossible. Our Bulawayo contact Zenzele described the last two weeks of power cuts as the worst he has ever seen in his life. He said the central business district in Bulawayo was experiencing power cuts during the day without warning. Clients booked to use sound recording studios in their building had to be cancelled after travelling from other cities because there was no power for three quarters of the day on Monday. Students at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Bulawayo took exams without power on Tuesday. This means computers were not operational, and it is not clear yet whether the exams went smoothly.
Zenzele said life in the high-density suburbs has become dangerous because the towers that light up the streets at night have no power. Thieves can attack with ease after dark. The power cuts also mean fuel stations shut down and ATMs are offline.
The Herald said: Zesa has the capacity to generate all the country's electricity needs as well as export, but has been hamstrung by spate of operational problems, notably erratic coal supplies, vandalism and theft of electricity infrastructure, as well as shortages of foreign currency. But the paper did not mention massive corruption and mismanagement that has plagued all parastatals during the 27 years ZANU-PF has been running the country. As with many other issues that need to be dealt with in Zimbabwe, critics and the opposition insist what is needed is a solution to the national political and economic crisis.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/13/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Bet Bob and Grace had power at the palace...generator or prisoners on hamster wheels, whatever
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/13/2007 7:26 Comments ||
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#2
Oh there's a solution all right: get rid of Bob and his mob.
Detained former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar and Giasuddin Al Mamun, close friend of BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Tarique Rahman, were sent to jail yesterday on completion of their remands.
New Market police yesterday pressed charges against Awami League (AL) leader and chairman of Shinepukur Holdings Limited Salman F Rahman and his brother Ahmed Sohel Fashiur Rahman in two cheating cases. Gulshan police produced Babar before the court of Metropolitan Magistrate Quamrunnahar at 4.15pm on completion of his three-day remand in connection with an arms case.
In the forwarding report, the investigation officer (IO) said he gathered important information about Babar's illegal firearms and ammunition. The information derived from Babar is being verified and he needs to be confined in the jail custody until the investigation completes, the IO added. Opposing the prosecution plea, Babar's defence lawyer Advocate Sanaullah Miah told the court that his client denied the news items published in different national dailies about his given statements to the Joint Interrogation Cell and said these were false, fabricated and concocted. Moreover, the seized items for which the case was filed were false, the lawyer added.
"Lies! All lies!"
Meantime, Babar broke down in tears in the dock after seeing his wife and sister. The two asked him to keep patience.
The former state minister was earlier remanded for eight days--four days under Emergency Power Rules and four days in the arms case. He was arrested in the third round of government crackdown on high profile graft suspects on May 28. The joint forces also recovered a shotgun, a rifle, a pistol, a Brazil-made revolver, two magazines and 297 bullets from his (Babar) Gulshan residence.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/13/2007 00:00 ||
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Most of the ministers' sons used to run illegal Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) business and make a profit of up to Tk 5 crore a month during the BNP-led alliance rule. Of them, former finance minister M Saifur Rahman's son [Babu] and daughter both were involved in the lucrative but unlicensed Internet telephony services that deprived the government of up to Tk 3,000 crore in revenue each month.
Lutfozzaman Babar, ex-state minister for home, has recently given away the information about the high-profile VoIP syndicate to the Task Force for Interrogation (TFI). The names he mentioned under interrogation include Tarique Rahman and Arafat Rahman, Giasuddin Al Mamun, owner of Daffodil Computers Sabur Khan and sons of Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and AL leader and former telecoms minister Mohammad Nasim.
Sources close to the interrogators quoting Babar also said that former premier Khaleda Zia's nephew Shahrin Islam Tuhin would control the entire business through Sabur Khan. The VoIP rackets used to operate through those having Internet Service Provider (ISP) license. Besides, the former state minister said, when Saifur's son Babu had smuggled in a huge consignment of cigarettes, the then finance minister had played a mere onlooker's role.
Babar told the interrogators that each of those in the VoIP business would earn between Tk 4 crore and Tk 5 crore. He claimed that he raised the issue before Khaleda Zia at least 50 times and urged her either to stop the illegal business or legalise it by issuing licence. Each time she assured that she would look into the matter later but it never came true.
Tarique himself made sure no actions were taken against the VoIP operators. Babar also contended that not a single sector was free of corruption during the BNP-Jamaat-led alliance rule.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/13/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Cool, a Babar graphic. I asked for this last week...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
06/13/2007 19:14 Comments ||
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Businessman Noor Ali is claimed to have admitted to the joint forces that he gave Tk 1 crore to Awami League (AL) chief and the then prime minister Sheikh Hasina, and three flats to her cousin Sheikh Helal out of the $ 4 million commission he received from MiG-29 purchase for Bangladesh Air Force during the AL rule.
A crore is 100 lakh, or 10 million. A dollar is about 70 Bangla Taka as of today. But $142,857.14 goes further in Bangla than it does most places.
Besides, he gifted Hasina's son Sajeeb Wajed Joy half of a floor at UTC building at Panthapath in the capital for his IT office, and it was registered in the name of AL leader Kazi Zafarullah, sources quoted him as saying during questioning by the joint forces.
Chairman of Unique Group Noor Ali, who was the local agent in the MiG-29 purchase deal, also said three other people got around $ 12 million commission from the deal. He contested the general election on AL ticket from Nababganj constituency in Dhaka in 2001. Giving details, Noor Ali said he gave Hasina Tk 1 crore in cash. Of the three flats he gave AL leader Sheikh Helal, one was registered in the name of his brother-in-law.
According to sources, Noor Ali also told the interrogators that an application was sent to Rajuk seeking registration of the rest two flats at Unique Prominent on Dutabash Road in Baridhara in the name of Helal's wife. Hasina wanted 5,388 square feet floor space at UTC building for the IT office of Joy. But it was registered in the name of now detained AL presidium member Kazi Zafarullah, sources said quoting Noor Ali.
Although Zafarullah did not pay a single taka for it, he took a receipt from Noor Ali that he paid him Tk 81 lakh. Former chairman of Baira Noor Ali also told the joint forces that he received $ 4 million commission in the MiG- 29 purchase deal in two instalments in 2005, according to sources.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/13/2007 00:00 ||
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See? This is why the rest of the world should adopt a metric system for money. Like the U.S. did.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/13/2007 6:28 Comments ||
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I had heard people talking about this idea of China's expansionism before, and I finally found the original map. Download the map here in .PDF format. In my book, this map belongs with the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, but anyhow, it's the source of the idea.
Indian Home Affairs Minister Mr. R. M. Hajarnavis claimed in the Indian Upper House on 27 August that the Communist Chinese have published a map showing most of South East Asia as well as large areas of India as Chinese territory. This statement refers to a map which appeared in a Chinese text book Brief History of Modern China published in Peking by the Yi Chang publishing house. Its original heading runs as follows: "The Chinese Territories Taken by the Imperialists in the Old Democratic Revolutionary Era (l840-1919)." It depicts as part of the Chinese Empire numerous areas that later came either under foreign domination or became independent Asian nations. Thus the map (as reproduced on the next page) shows parts of Kazakhstan, Kirghizstan, and Tajikstan as the "Great North West" within Chinese borders (they were taken over by Russia under the Treaty of Chuguchak in 1864); the Pamir region (lost in 1896); areas of the Soviet Far East ("given to Russia" under the Treaties of Aigun in 1858 and Peking in 1860).
Other parts of Asia shown as part of the Chinese Empire between l840 and 1919 are Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Assam, Burma, Malaya, Thailand, Taiwan, Korea, and the Ryukyu islands. All are marked as lost to the "imperialist" powers during that period.
Since the said textbook was published in 1954, and the map in question referred to an earlier historical period, its use as a means of demonstrating Peking's present expansionism is limited.
In addition, the Chinese news agency Hsinhua (Xinhua), presumably referring to this map (following its republication in an Indian weekly as part of an article on Chinese border claims on the Soviet Union) denied its authenticity on 13 August. Whatever its origin, however, it can hardly be presented as a documentary evidence of Chinese expansionism.
#2
This isn't just a figment of someone's imagination. Chinese at the street level think of these areas as lost territories. I expect that when China's military is ready, the Chinese will renounce past border agreements as "unequal treaties", and proceed to recover their "lost territories".
#3
How much of that Chinese mapped territory overlaps the Ummah? Quite a lot, it appears. Head-to-head, my money's on Beijing, but lots of innocents would get squished as the big guys flailed around at each other. On the other hand, a whole lot of Islamonuts would get squished too.
Big players: EU, Russia, China, US, India, Ummah.
EU: losing to Ummah via demographics and multi-culti.
Russia: lost Islamic SSR to Ummah; Siberia at serious risk to China.
China: gaining on EU & US via trade & foreign intervention (& espionage); at risk vs Ummah.
US: still #1, but at risk to most via multi-culti & demographics (& internal infighting).
India: gaining on most but still way back. At risk to Ummah due to proximity & history - New Delhi could be the Stalingrad to Islamofascism's expansion (very brutal and costly, but decisive.) China positioning to take on the winner and pick up the pieces.
Ummah: Has the population base, but that's it. Eventually they'll push somebody too far and the gloves will come off. The Ghost Dance shirts didn't protect the Indians any better than Allan will protect the Muslims when that happens.
China plays long, long term. And they're rational. They'll maneuver around the edges of all the above as they confront each other (and likely even 'encourage' the confrontations), and pick up pieces as they become available. Don't take your eyes off them.
#5
I still think that if/when China makes a land grab it will be either the Stans (possible under some anti-terrorism or such BS) or Russian E aka Siberia. Very simply both of those moves will play to China's strong points militarily Army , Airforce that against the Stans would dominate or Russia would hold its own and come out by numbers. These territories would give China what it desperatley needs both land mass to expand into and the Natrual resources that the US can currently choke off via our sea dominance.
Tiawan would bring war with the US and play to China's weaknesses Navy, Airforce. SE Asia play would send that region back into our corner and don't forget the Chicom's already tried this back right after the US/Vietnam war and failed horribly. China maybe stronger now but we also woudl be willing to support SE Asia in thier defense now. S Asia Tiawan would draw US in stuanch ally more so than even Tiawan and Burma may go un-headed or may just send India into the fight.
I think China is playing Russia for a major beatdown. Getting Putty to step away from the west isolating him at the sametime the war games which both improve the Chicom military and learn the Russian capabilities.
Ohhh yeah and did I mention that right now there is more illegal Chinese migrants in Siberia than there is Russian's? Russia is low hanging fruit on the tree and the Chicoms are hungry for the sweet taste of that Siberian Gold, Oil, Land, minerals. hmmmm
#6
C-low, it's a waiting game of demographics. Chinese don't have to use military (unless they will be inclined to get some reduction of excess males). In about 50 years, Sibiria will be almost depopulated (not many ethnic Russian will be left there). Even in 30 years, they may be able to grab it with a little or almost no resistance on Russian part.
Lal Masjid authorities on Tuesday demanded the State Minister for Communications Shahid Jamil Qureshi be punished under Islamic laws for allowing a na mehram woman to live in his house. The woman is Kafila Siddiqui, a Canadian national who died at the ministers house here on June 8 under mysterious circumstances. Jamil is currently facing a police probe into the death, the reason for which is yet to be determined. He tendered his resignation to the prime minister on Tuesday.
Lal Masjid deputy cleric Ghazi Abdul Rashid told Daily Times that the government should sack the minister instead of accepting his resignation for his involvement in an un-Islamic act. He said the minister had violated the teachings of Islam by keeping a na mehram woman at his house, drinking alcohol with her and torturing her to death. He demanded the minister be tried under Islamic laws.
He said the police would not take any action against a politically well-connected and wealthy minister. He offered no comments when asked if the Shariat Court set up at the Lal Masjid would proceed against the minister.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/13/2007 00:00 ||
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be punished under Islamic laws for allowing a na mehram woman to live in his house.
Hey Shahid that whole torture the broad to death thingy really is incidental. Nothing a little cover-up cant clear. But actually letting her live in your house well now Allens got laws against that sort of thing you know.
American interests in Pakistan are larger than one man and as Gen Musharrafs popularity has fallen, US support for him is growing increasingly irrelevant in the current political environment, according to Lisa Curtis, the Heritage Foundations South Asia expert.
The Heritage Foundation, the leading conservative think-tank in Washington, has been a supporter of the Pakistani military leader and his role in the war on terrorism. This breaking of ranks, therefore is not without significance. Curtis, formerly of the CIA, has served in Pakistan for two years.
She writes in a commentary that US reluctance to speak out against curbs on civilian freedoms also risks deepening anti-American sentiment, which Islamic extremists could exploit to further their anti-American agendas. Blindly supporting Musharraf, who is seeking reelection from a five-year-old parliament, while maintaining his role as army chief, is not worth the cost. Instead, Washington should encourage and support a transition to democracy.
According to Curtis, The US is in a position to play a positive role in encouraging a transition to civilian-led democracy in Pakistan, without backing any particular leader or party ... The ideal scenario is a smooth transition to democracy, with Musharraf playing a strong role. But if Musharraf continues to respond to the current political crisis with an increasingly autocratic hand taking away press freedoms and arresting opposition politicians and peaceful protesters he will further undermine his credibility and lessen his chances of playing a role in any transition to civilian rule. The Bush Administration has only dealt with a military-ruled Pakistan and therefore has trouble envisioning an alternative. Throughout the 1990s, there were three power centers in Pakistan: the army, the president, and the prime minister. Today, all power is centered in one individual President Musharraf an inherently unstable situation for a country with a vibrant civil society and developed political parties. The Pakistani people have agitated for democracy in the past, which led the military to share power with the civilian leaders.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/13/2007 00:00 ||
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I hope we learned something from the Palestinian elections.
Democracy will naturally produce the worst outcome when your population has extremist Muslim tendencies. And when your government also controls nuclear weapons, the risk becomes even greater.
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom has deplored the abuse of blasphemy laws in Pakistan, calling them a severe violation of the universally guaranteed right to the freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief, while expressing concern over a draft bill in the National Assembly on apostasy. Pakistans blasphemy laws are inherently arbitrary, and they de facto restrict freedom of speech and other freedoms guaranteed by international human rights norms, said Felice D Gaer, head of the Commission on Monday. These insidious laws lend themselves to misuse and abuse, resulting frequently in severe violations of freedom of religion or belief in Pakistan.
The laws, the commission has noted, have been applied most recently against Younis Masih, a Christian, whom a court in Lahore recently sentenced to death. The sentence against Masih was followed quickly by another blasphemy allegation against a group of Christian nurses in a hospital in Islamabad. Even before charges were filed in that case, the women were threatened with violence.
Adding to concerns about the blasphemy laws is a draft bill currently before a standing committee of National Assembly that would impose the death penalty for apostasy, or converting from Islam to any other religion. The death sentence would be imposed on Muslim men; women would receive a life sentence. The bill, which provides that testimony by two or more adults would be sufficient grounds for conviction, was tabled by the MMA. This proposed bill would violate human rights standards because it would criminalise an internationally protected right, Gaer said. Every effort should be made by the government of Pakistan to ensure that such repressive legislation is not passed.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/13/2007 00:00 ||
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WASHINGTON - US Middle East allies Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar, as well as Malaysia were added Tuesday to a Washington blacklist of countries trafficking in people, the State Department said.
We never said they were perfect.
Algeria and Guinea were the other additions to the blacklist of the State Departments annual Trafficking in Persons Report, which analyzed efforts in about 150 countries to combat trafficking for forced labor, prostitution, military service and other purposes.
The seven countries, all of whom were on a special watch list last year, join Myanmar, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Uzbekistan and Venezuela in the dreaded Tier 3 list as the worst offenders of human trafficking. Being in the blacklist, they could face sanctions, including withholding by the United States of non-humanitarian, non-trade related foreign aid. Countries that receive no such foreign assistance would be subject to withholding of funding for participation by government officials in educational and cultural exchange programs.
Defeating human trafficking is a great moral calling of our day, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in the 236-page report. Together with our allies and friends, we will continue our efforts to bring this cruel practice to an end, she said.
US government research shows 800,000 people are trafficked across national borders, about 80 percent of them women and girls and up to half minors, the State Department said. The majority of transnational victims are females trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation, it said.
Belize, Laos and Zimbabwe were removed from the blacklist this year. Singapore, which had been in the Tier 1 list, was relegated to Tier 2 this year.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/13/2007 00:00 ||
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A bunch of Communist/Stalinist or Islamic nations as human rights-free zones? Say it ain't so!
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Rome - US President George W Bush may have had his watch stolen while greeting crowds in Albania, Italian media outlets reported on Tuesday, using images of the alleged incident taken by Albanian television network News24. Bush on Sunday visited Fushe Kruja, a small town some 30 kilometres from the capital Tirana, a day after paying an official visit to Italy. 
Detained former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar and Giasuddin Al Mamun, close friend of BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Tarique Rahman, were sent to jail yesterday on completion of their remands.
Most of the ministers' sons used to run illegal Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) business and make a profit of up to Tk 5 crore a month during the BNP-led alliance rule. Of them, former finance minister M Saifur Rahman's son [Babu] and daughter both were involved in the lucrative but unlicensed Internet telephony services that deprived the government of up to Tk 3,000 crore in revenue each month. 
Businessman Noor Ali is claimed to have admitted to the joint forces that he gave Tk 1 crore to Awami League (AL) chief and the then prime minister Sheikh Hasina, and three flats to her cousin Sheikh Helal out of the $ 4 million commission he received from MiG-29 purchase for Bangladesh Air Force during the AL rule.
